Cretzmeyer, Marian C.

Marian C. Cretzmeyer, 94, died peacefully Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at Mercy Hospice, surrounded by her family. Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 5, at the Newman Catholic Student Center, with Father David Hitch officiating. The family will greet friends at the church after 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to The Cretzmeyer-Keatinge Track and Field Scholarship, c/o Larry Wieczorek, UI Athletic Department, Iowa City, IA 52242 or to Iowa City Hospice.

Marian was born April 6, 1918, in Spencer, Iowa, the daughter of Russell Morgan Cornwall and Inez Clare Lally. Following her education at the University of Iowa, Marian married Francis X. Cretzmeyer on Dec. 27, 1939, at Sacred Heart Church in Spencer.

Marian championed the cause of the disadvantaged and advocated for those causes that would make her community a better place for all. She attended to the needs of others through numerous acts of kindness, community support, and generosity. In the early 1970s, Marian and Alice Baker established the gift shop at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to benefit the children and other patients who came to the hospital.

Marian is survived by three daughters, Mary Fran Niemeyer and her husband, John, of Iowa City and their children, Christopher, Michael, Brian, Elizabeth and Patrick (Katie); Catherine McGarvey and her husband, John, of St. Augustine, Fla., and their children, Mary Catherine, Matthew (Ha), John (Sarah) and Daniel; Margaret Cretzmeyer of Iowa City; two sons, Francis X. Cretzmeyer III and his wife, Linda, of Coralville and their children, Angela Axeen (Travis), Brian, Sarah and Matthew; and John Cretzmeyer of Des Moines; and three sisters, Clare Wheeler of Spencer, Patricia Shellady of Kansas City and Margaret Cornwall of Oakland, Calif.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her grandson, Brian Cretzmeyer; and two siblings, John Cornwall and Barbara Mueller.

Arrangements are with Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, where online condolences may be sent to the family at www.lensingfuneral.com.

Published March 2, 2013 in The Gazette